Project ARA new prototype and marketplace in the works

The Google ATAP division, in charge of project ARA, has recently released some exciting news regarding the current state as well as future plans for the revolutionary modular handset. A prototype of the latest circuit board can be found on the team's Google+ page. It is named Spiral 2 and brings about many improvements over previous development boards. It is now built around custom Toshiba chips, which frees up more room for developer modules. The board also boasts improved electromagnetic couplings for the modules.

But the good news does not stop there. It appears that the ARA modules marketplace is also under heavy development. Globant, a well-known Latin American software company, with a long successful collaboration track record with Google revealed, that it has started work on the ARA market.

The service will be executed in typical Google fashion and resemble the Play Store with extensive user feedback, opinions and reviews. The significant difference being, of course, that it will be intended to sell hardware modules to ARA users.

Another reputable Google partner - Two Toasters will also be working on the dedicated mobile application for the service. The company specializes in mobile design, development and production and will undoubtedly deliver a superbly executed app to the ARA community.

For those unfamiliar with the game-changing project - ARA, formerly Phoneblocks is an innovative new approach to producing mobile devices in a modular way. The main idea is for users to be able to pick-out hardware components for their handsets in much the same way as for a desktop computer.

These modules, dubbed "blocks", will allow for greater flexibility and updatability of mobile devices and in turn ensure their longer lifecycl. They will also potentially bringing down costs and reduce the negative footprint on the environment from electronic waste.

Google ATAP will be discussing the interesting developments around project ARA in detail during the second Project ARA Module Developers Conference in January (January 14 - Mountain View, CA / January 21 - Singapore). More exciting news and inside information is expected then, so be sure to keep an eye on the event, which will be streamed online on the official Project Ara website for a glimpse of the possible future of mobile tech.

Source | Via